From Simple Sides to Signature Drinks: Tips for Hosting the Ultimate Summer Barbecue

Summer's here, and those of us who live in cooler climates are excited to get outside and use our grills and yards! Barbecues are the perfect opportunity to gather your friends and show off your cooking skills without making a complete mess out of your kitchen and dining room. Plus, you can supervise kids outside while the grown-ups talk, grill, and enjoy an adult beverage.

Here are some tips for planning the best summer barbecue of the season:

Keep the Grill Menu Simple

I live in Chicago, so hot dogs are a staple at any barbecue gathering. Burgers are also a great idea because they cook quickly, are difficult to undercook, and can be garnished to each guest's liking without any effort from the host. Plus, we have a great recipe for burgers on the grill. If you know you have vegetarian or vegan guests, you can also find veggie burgers or veggie dogs, or pick up some large portobello mushrooms to grill.

If you want to up your game a little, visit a butcher shop and get a unique kind of sausage. We're partial to Italian and Polish in our area, but your butcher may have anything from kielbasa to apple chicken sausage to make something unique for your guests.

Experienced grill masters may want to try something more adventurous, like ribs or brisket, but keep in mind that these take several hours and a considerable amount of space on the grill. Some of these items are also messy to cut up and eat, which puts some guests off. Plus, not all kids like hard-to-chew meats, so you may see a few noses turned up at the final product, even if you did a great job grilling.

Make a Handful of Simple Sides and Potluck the Rest

Many kids don't like mystery salads. If they have to ask what's in it, they may not eat it. So pick something with recognizable ingredients, like watermelon cucumber salad or Mexican street corn salad. Or try something new from our list of potluck sides. Kids (and many adults) also like simple veggie or fruit trays where they can select what they want and leave whatever they find yucky. You can elevate these by buying or making a special dip.

Set out your salads or fruit and veggie trays at the beginning of the party for any guests who are hungry right away. You can also ask guests to bring a side — many families have go-to potluck side dishes that they enjoy. This might introduce you to a new item. And make sure you have chips on hand, whether you buy them or have one of your guests bring them for the potluck. Most people like chips, and they're often gluten-free with few allergens.

Plan a Fun Signature Drink, or Have Guests Make One Themselves

You don't need to go overboard to make the drinks fun. Make a creative lemonade for the kids or a pitcher of sangria or frozen margaritas for the adults. Guests enjoy having a drink they wouldn't make for themselves at home.

My daughter recently had a dirty soda bar at her birthday party, and it was a huge hit with the tweens. We bought five different two-liter bottles of soda, strawberry, vanilla, and peach syrups, half-and-half, coconut cream, and packaged boba pearls, and let each kid craft their own creation. Put out smaller cups (15 oz or less) with this so that they're not throwing out a quart of soda if they accidentally make something they don't like. I recommend buying more vanilla syrup and half-and-half than you think you need.

Of course, you'll always have guests who just want soda or beer, so put out two labelled coolers with a variety of each. This allows guests to help themselves without going back inside.

Plan Family-Friendly Seating, Plates, and Utensils

Adults usually enjoy more formal seating on the patio, but kids often like to have their own picnic table or even a picnic blanket in the yard. Plan to have more seats than you have guests, and have a few options for people with different preferences or abilities.

We always go to a party store and buy cheap but reusable plastic plates for barbecues. If one gets cracked, we're not heartbroken, but we're not throwing away a full set of paper plates at every meal. We do sometimes pick single-use plastic silverware, but we will use our own casual silverware for smaller gatherings.

Make a Playlist

Use Spotify or another music app and prepare a playlist for your outdoor speaker in advance. Include crowd-pleasing songs with a mix of kids' bangers and adult songs with clean lyrics. Make the list a little longer than you want the party to last. Set the volume at a reasonable level that you can talk over. This prevents the kids from getting hold of the speaker and insisting on playing their latest obsession on repeat.

Put Out Some Fun Lawn Games

Buy or borrow some extra-large lawn games, like Connect Four or Tetris Tumble, to entertain your guests. If you have a big enough yard, you could even host cornhole, a volleyball game, or croquet. Place games in various places around the yard so that guests can pick what they want to play without being too close to eating or other activities. If you notice that one game isn't being played, put it to the side to make room for others.

Enjoy Some Water Fun

One of the biggest hits at our family barbecues in recent years has been reusable water balloons. I would suggest buying two three- or five-gallon buckets and filling them with water before the party so that the water isn't frigid when kids start throwing balloons. Submerge each balloon in the bucket until its magnetic sides come together, building a stockpile of balloons in each bucket. Once kids go through their supply, you can refill and restart the fun!

If you have little kids, a kiddie pool can be fun. Put it out early in the morning to allow the water to warm up. On especially hot days, make sure to have a pool with a built-in shade or put it in a shaded spot to prevent sunburn. Big kids might enjoy a slip ‘n slide if you have a yard with the right kind of landscaping.

Include a Delicious Dessert

Barbecue desserts can go a few different routes. I like buying a giant box of Drumsticks from Costco because it's low effort and low cleanup. You could also have your local ice cream shop pack a quart of your favorite flavor for a fancier option. 

If you don't want to keep something cold all day, cookies and bars are a great choice. Chocolate chip cookies are a classic, or you can make something that fits into the barbecue theme, like these hamburger cookies. Or, since you already have the grill on, you can toast marshmallows over the grates to make s'mores.

Place Garbage and Recycling Bins in Obvious Spots for Easy Clean Up

If guests have to search for the garbage or recycling, there's a higher chance they will just leave their trash where they ate. Put a garbage bin and a recycling bin in easy-to-see spots outside and inside. Consider putting some kind of wash tub outdoors or just inside the door, too, so that guests can ditch their used dishes and utensils and you can have them all in one place at the end of the event. You might also want to clean up little bits of mess throughout the party so you don't have the whole yard to clean at the end.

Now get out there and get grilling while the weather is still perfect!

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